Hamas hands over 16 hostages to Israel from Gaza Strip

A Red Cross vehicle, as part of a convoy carrying hostages abducted by Hamas militants during the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, arrives at the Rafah border, amid a hostages-prisoners swap deal between Hamas and Israel, in the southern Gaza Strip, November 29, 2023. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa

GAZA/JERUSALEM — Sixteen hostages were released on Wednesday by Hamas on the final day of a two-day extension of a truce in the Gaza war between Israel and the Palestinian militants.

The group of civilians included Israelis, dual nationals, and Thai citizens, officials said.

As part of an exchange deal under the truce, Israel will release 30 Palestinian prisoners – 16 minors and 14 women on Wednesday night, Qatar foreign ministry spokesperson Majed Al-Ansari said in a statement.

The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier identified two Russian-Israeli women freed on Wednesday night as Yelena Trupanov, 50, and Irena Tati, 73. Video from Hamas’ armed wing showed the women being handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross and driven out of the Gaza Strip.

READ: Israel, Hamas complete 2nd day of swaps after tense delay

Meanwhile, in a clash in the West Bank city of Jenin between Israeli soldiers and Palestinians, two young males and two militants were killed, Palestinian official news agency WAFA reported.

An 8-year-old boy, a 15-year-old male, and two senior militant commanders died, the report said. The Israeli military said people threw explosive devices at Israeli soldiers, who responded with live fire.

People react after the release of Palestinian prisoners amid a hostages-prisoners swap deal between Hamas and Israel, in Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, November 28, 2023. REUTERS/Ammar Awad

The handover of hostages was overshadowed by an unconfirmed claim by Hamas, the largest militant group in Gaza, that a family of Israeli hostages, including the youngest hostage, baby Kfir Bibas, had been killed during earlier Israeli bombardment.

READ: ‘Can’t find words’, Israeli families welcome second group of hostages

Israeli officials said they were checking the Hamas report about the Bibas family, a very emotive issue in Israel where the family – 10-month-old Kfir, his 4-year-old brother Ariel, and their mother Shiri – is among the most high-profile hostages.

Relatives of the Bibas family said they had been informed of the Hamas report. “We are waiting for the information to be confirmed and hopefully refuted by military officials,” a statement from the Hostages and Missing Persons Families Forum said.

READ: Israel-Hamas truce begins, hostages to be released

The two hostages freed were among some 240 people seized by Hamas gunmen during a rampage into southern Israel on October 7, in which Israel said 1,200 people were killed. Israel’s bombardment of Gaza in retaliation has killed more than 15,000 Gazans, according to health authorities in the Palestinian enclave.